Excelsior Alumni going for CRNA?

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Jul 3, 2012

My husband is an Excelsior ADN graduate and when he decided to go back, Texas Tech, UT Arlington and WGU were all strong contenders.

The reason he chose Excelsior was that he had taken the A&P exam for 6 credits through Excelsior. All the other programs wanted him to have 8 credits of A&P including 2 credits of lab, which he didn't have. He also passed on Texas Tech because he had just missed a deadline for starting the January classes (he was checking into it kind of late, in November). I think the problem with UT Arlington was the A&P thing and also they wanted chemistry which he didn't have. For him due to a job situation, the fastest degree was important so Excelsior won out as he would be able to start taking courses in January.

Texas Tech and UTA both have great pricing if one is a Texas resident, so that's a consideration. I would also point out that Excelsior is very open to credit by exam which can save a lot on tuition and books. Excelsior exams run something like $300-$350 while CLEP and Dantes exams are usually under $100.

mdsnurse12 · Jul 3, 2012

Thanks for the input. I have that same problem, as far as the A&P and chemstry goes. I feel that Excelsior would be a great option for me all around, just wanted to see if there were any BSN alumni that went on to a CRNA program, if they prefered a traditional BSN rather an online-earned degree.

How far along is your husband in the BSN program? How long does he expect to take to finish it?

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Jul 3, 2012

After I posted, I realized you were originally asking about the CRNA angle, I have no insight on that.

I actually came along for the ride and am also working on my BSN. When it comes to my husband, he had some extra credits because he had unrelated baccalaureate and graduate degree, so he had some credits already. For myself, I had just the ADN from a traditional community college, but had done probably a year of extra credits thinking back then that I would return right away. . .

We both started working on courses in January (2012). One has to complete this writing class (it's really very beneficial) before one can take any nursing courses or exams. One has to have statistics before one can take the Nursing Research class or exam. We were both able to start our first nursing classes about 2 months ago.

Excelsior requires a capstone course at the end. All your other classes or exams have to be completed before one can start and it only starts a few times a year. We will not be ready for the September Capstone, but we should be able to start it in January with a projected May (2013) graduation.

I do know a nurse that started with Excelsior LVN to RN and eventually became a neonatal nurse practitioner, but she went to Texas Tech for BSN, though I'm not sure why she picked that route over Excelsior.

John SPN · Jul 3, 2012

I too am currently planning to complete my BSN through Excelsior and then work towards getting into an Anesthesia program after the required year in acute care.

While, I have not done it personally, I work in the Anesthesia dept at a level 2 trauma center and know of 2 CRNAs specifically that did get their BSNs through Excelsior so it would seem to be a available alternative.

mdsnurse12 · Jul 4, 2012

Good to hear! I dug around on the crna/srna page yesterday after posting, and saw alot of the same thing: where you got bsn isnt near as important as your GPA, ICU experience, GRE scores.... And of course how you handle your interview. Good to hear though that EXcelsior alumni are working CRNAs.

TraumaMama179 · Aug 9, 2012

I think it depends on the school you're looking into. Some are picky about what they accept as transfers